babcpck



' G. H. BABOO OK.

L'UMINOUS SIGN.

Patented'Sept. 4, 1883.

(No Model.)

paint possess the property of absorbing light es sponding p r 13311figures' s PATENT OFFICE. i n a esteem. elector, iopptimmm, NEW JERSEY.

WW u si e meimnj msg inert of Letters Patent llo. 284,163, datedSeptember 4, 1883.

Application filed April 27, 1882. i (No model.)

Toallwhom it concern; 1 i

"Be it known thatl GEORGEH. BABQOOK,

f Plainfield, Union county, in the Stateof 0 New@ Jersey, haveinventedcertain newand usefullmprovements" relating to Luminous i. Signs, ofwhich the following is a specification.

What are knownas luminous paints, the base of one of whichis understoodtobe mainly sulphide of barium, maybe procured in the market, and onbeing applied like any other during the day and giving it off during theearly ing therewith the backs of- 'sufficiently-thicli solid lettersofglass; "These letters" are after-. ward cemented or otherwise attachedon i suit able sign-boards having a ground which harmonizes with orcontrasts strongly with the colorof thepainted glass letters as seenbydaylight.

i all the purposes of, a sign when seen byI-day- The result isa signadapted to serve llight, and which will exhibit clearly luminous nlettersin a moderatelyglowing white or pale purple on a blackor verydark ground during the early hours of the night. To insure a inorecomplete attachment of the letters to the sign,

qlremove the luminous paint on small portions of the surface distributedover the letters. The

. putty or other cementing material engages directly with the glass atthose points, andaids to insure against afailure of the cementingeffeet. a j

The following isa description of what 1 coni 1 slder the best means ofcarrying outtheinven- I this specification.

tion. 1 v i i I The acco panying drawings form a part of Figure 1represents a cross-section through aletter or aportionof aletter andtheadja- 4o cent parts when applied to use.

Figs. 2 andi3 represent .a modification, Fig. 2 being aiface view, andFig. 3 a cross-section on the line 00 0c in Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre- A is a Gothic or otherseparately-formed letterlof glass, having on one face a series of slightdepressions, recesses, or grooves, 1a.

QB is one or more coatings of luminous paint,

back of the glassA nearly continuously. It

coversall the surface except the small areas occupied by the depressionsa.

O is a substantial coating of common paint applied on the back of theluminous paint.

W is "a sign-board or other substantialsurface, on which the-letters areto be fixed, and

P- is a coating of dark paint, of any-ordinary or suitable character,applied on the sign board and allowed to dry in the ordinary mani E is acoating suitable cementing material. It forms acontinuous'coat overthewhole of the back face of the paint 0, and the points I) of the cementpass through paint O and luminous paint Bto fill the depressions a inthe letter, where the luminous paint does not extend, and comes at thosepoints in direct contact with the glass A. It adheres strongly to theglass and to the board, or to the common paint thereon. I be lieve itwill also adhere tolerably well to the luminous paint B. The cement, asarranged, unites the glass very thoroughly to the sign= board byinducing a reliable adhesion by the several points b, even if theadhesionthrough of glaziers putty or other the intervention of theluminous paint fails entirely. i

The glass letters A are .best formed by molding with slightly-roundededges. The luminous paint is conveniently applied to the plane portionsof the back, omitting the depressions i a, byrolling on the paint with aslightly-elastic roller, similar to the manner in which a coat of ink isapplied upon types in some varities of printing. I prefer to givetwo-coats of the luminous paint in this manner, allowing each moleculararrangement disturbed by the pres ence of light during the daylighthours, and thento give off light during the first hours of the night.Experiment has proved that the luminous paint gives some light for morethan forty -e ight hours after; exposure for a brief period to thedaylight. It is sufficient for most purposes that the luminous paint Bwill, with a fair exposure, cause the letters to appear dis .tinctlyuntil after midnight.

The depressions may be produced by suit= ably forming the correspondingportion of the molds in "which tlrie melted glass is pressed to form theletters.

Modifications may be made in the proportions without departing from theprinciple or sacrificing the advantages of the invention. Parts of theinvention may be used without the whole. I can use letters which areplane on both faces, and, instead of sinking the depressions a andsupplying sufiicient putty to fill such sunken spots, can paint over theentire surface with luminous paint, and afterward erase the paint alongcertain lines by .scraping across the back with any suitable instrument.A good design in such a case, or in all cases, is to make the bare spotsin the form of narrow oblique lines crossing each other diamondwise. Ibelieve it practicable to use the letters with the whole back surfacecovered with one or more coatings of the luminous paint, and securedeither by cementing such painted surface to the sign-board or by slighthooks, or analogous fastenings. (Not shown.)

In the form shown in Figs. 2 and 3 a large portion of the back of theletter A is sunk, only a narrow portion at each edge being full depth.The putty or other cementing material fills theentire cavity. The backof the edges of the letter, and also the bottom of the cavity in it, arecoated with luminous paint, the nearly-perpendicular sides of the cavitybeing either not painted at all, or so scraped or otherwise treated asto remove the luminous paint in spots. The cement adheres directly tothe glass, either along the whole or a portion of these perpendicularsides.

I claim as my invention- 1. A sign composed of separately-formed glassletters having depressions on their rear sides, and the spaces betweenthe depressions covered with luminous paint, and cementing materialadapted to cover the painted portions of the rear sides of the lettersand be forced into the unpainted depressions to secure the letters tothe board, substantially as set forth, and for the purpose described.

2. The herein-described sign, consisting of separately-formed letters A,having depressions a, united to the sign-board W by the directcontact'of the points I; of cementing material E, in combination withluminous paint B, covering the back of the letter between the saiddepressions a and common paint 0, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset my hand, at New York city, this17th day of April, 1882, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEO. H. BABGOOK.

Witnesses:

OROSES G. WoorsoN, CHARLES (3. STE'rsoN.

